After studying the judicial system, Robert Foshee took his civics students to an annual trip, where they travelled to the Fresno County Court House to observe different perspectives of the courts, Oct. 9. The students left at approximately 8:30 a.m., after being dismissed from their first period classes.
Upon arrival, the students were placed into four different groups where they split up to observe courts dealing with misdemeanor charges. Though these courts were not the most exciting event of the day, students were able to see the major differences between courts on TV and courts in reality.
Students then moved into trial Judge Hilary A. Chittick’s chambers, where the classes asked Judge Chittick questions about jury selection, criminal processing, sentencing and the responsibilities of judges.
Upon Judge Chittick’s recommendation, the students then attended the Calhoun Case, where Fresno City College professor Brain Calhoun is on trial for misdemeanor battery. There, the students were allowed to see witness questioning, evidence representation and a live jury.
After sitting in on the case for a bit, students then filed into another court room to watch a presentation by deputy sheriffs. Along with a power point presentation and visual displays of commonly snuck in weapons, the deputies took a volunteer from the students to impersonate a prisoner.
Junior Garrett Hill was the volunteer chosen among the many students raising their hands. Hill was placed a yellow jumpsuit and shackles around his wrists, waist and feet to play out the role of a prisoner. Although Hill was happy to be a part of the demonstration, he did not find the get-up entirely comfortable.
“It was pretty uncomfortable to be in the jumpsuit and shackles,” Hill said. “The restraints were pretty tight and I could barely walk. I thought I was going to trip to be honest. But after a little bit you get used to it. I sat in the chair for about 15 or 20 minutes in the shackles so I did get used to it, but overall it’s just not a pleasant time. The trip as a whole was great though. Going back into the judges chambers was really cool because we got to see where he reviews his cases and things like that, so it was a lot of fun.”
Junior Ashley Garcia found the experience very enjoyable. Although some of the aspects of the courthouse might have scared her, she still appreciated learning more about law.
“I really enjoyed going to the courthouse,” Garcia said. “It was neat to see everything we learned in class being played out in front of our eyes. I would definitely go again, actually maybe not because it kind of terrified me.”
Secretary Vicky Belmont chaperoned the trip along with Foshee. As it was her first time attending the field trip, she was also very interested in seeing the different proceedings involved in the courthouse.
“This was my first time chaperoning this trip and I really like it,” Belmont said. “It was neat to sit in on the numerous cases and see how various courtrooms operate differently. I’m glad I was able to go on the trip.”
Not fond of the entire trip, Jon Agao, ’14, found some areas of the courthouse to be a little boring. However, Agao did enjoy some aspects of the experience, such as being able to sit in on a more high profile case.
“I did not like the first court room that we went into because we sat for about 30 to 40 min with no judge on the seat, and we just watched people in suits whisper to each other,” Agao said. “However, the rest of the day was cool because we got to see things get done such as in the Calhoun case when we watched a witness testify in court. It’s a great trip for civics class to take so we can see what we’re learning happen in real life.”
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For more features, read the Oct. 7 article, Junior cyclist aspires to go pro.
